News Summary: EU OKs joint banking supervisor

By By The Associated Press

Courtesy of the Associated Press

SEEKING STABILITY: European Union officials on Tuesday approved the creation of a centralized banking supervisor, marking another step in the 28-country bloc's long quest to stabilize its financial system.

FINAL HURDLE: Finance ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg cleared the final legal hurdle to the establishment of the new banking supervisor, which will be operated by the European Central Bank and directly oversee the bloc's 130 biggest banks.

NOW HIRING: The so-called single supervisory mechanism will be based with the ECB in Frankfurt, Germany, and will start recruiting about 1,000 new staff. It is due to be operational late next year after assessing European banks' balance sheets through a stress test that will identify possible capital shortfalls.